


Espresso Is Not An Option

by SugarFey



Category: Marvel Avengers Movies Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Clint/Natasha if you squint harder, Female Friendship, Friendship, Gen, Maria/Natasha if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-11
Updated: 2012-08-11
Packaged: 2017-11-11 22:09:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/483403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SugarFey/pseuds/SugarFey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's early, there are new recruits to evaluate and Maria Hill really wants her coffee.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Espresso Is Not An Option

If there is one thing S.H.I.E.L.D HQ is lacking, it’s decent coffee.

And when you’re up at six in the morning trying to evaluate potential new recruits because your boss called you and said in no uncertain terms “it’s your turn, Hill, get your ass over here,” this is a Big Problem.

Maria could kill for an espresso, and in her profession this is not hyperbole.

The young men and women lined up in front of her are woefully underwhelming. Plucked mostly from the military or the FBI, they’re hopeful for S.H.I.E.L.D’s perceived glamour and the much larger pay check. To bad only one of them will meet the qualifications, if that.

Agent Natasha Romanoff, no doubt also forced by Fury, is putting the kids through their paces in the boxing ring and when she turns to Maria her face says it all. S.H.I.E.L.D will not find a new agent here.

It takes another three hours before Maria can finally switch places with another agent and she makes straight for the cafeteria. Natasha is already there, pouring hot black liquid into a paper cup. Maria waits as Natasha brings the cup to her lips, sips, and winces.

“Want to get out of here?” Maria suggests.

Natasha dumps her cup into the trashcan and Maria admires that she can make even this action graceful. “Please.”

They change into civvies and go to a coffee shop not too far from headquarters. When their order arrives Maria clasps her espresso glass with reverence. At last.

Natasha arches an eyebrow over her cappuccino. “Seems as if you need that.”

“Most of the time I work with Fury. You should be glad I’m not drinking on the job.”

Natasha sets her cup down into the saucer with a clink and dabs at her mouth with a napkin. “I know the feeling.”

Maria can’t help but grin. “Barton?”

“Barton,” Natasha confirms. “I can’t decide if he’s secretly from the Middle Ages or if he’s a puppy in human form.”

Now Maria has to laugh, because only Natasha would describe Agent Clint ‘Hawkeye’ Barton, an assassin with the highest kill count in S.H.I.E.LD, as a puppy. But then, she does have him wrapped around her finger. It makes Maria wonder. When Barton dragged in the redheaded Russian killing machine now known as Agent Romanoff it had confirmed her suspicion that he was a bit unhinged. Barton’s questionable loyalties aside, Maria had respected Natasha from day one. Anyone who could escape the Red Room and be declared sane must be one hell of a woman.

“Still, I’m glad you’re settling in. We haven’t spoken much since…” Since Natasha was handcuffed to a chair and covered in someone else’s blood while Maria tried to establish if this woman was, in fact, going to murder them all in their sleep. It isn’t the strangest friendship Maria has ever had, but it is the only one formed over an interrogation table.

Her life is different to other people.

“Maria Janette Hill,” Natasha answers as if she were reading a shopping list, folding her napkin into a neat square. “Born in Chicago, 1984 to Robert Hill, deceased, and Bernice Hill, maiden name Carter. Recruited from the Air Force by Director Fury himself. Specialises in strategy and tactics. Pysch evaluation, stable. Mission record, excellent.” She pauses to sip her coffee. “Oh, and you’re a Libra. Is there anything else you wanted me to know?”

Maria sits back in her chair, careful not to reveal a thing. Body language is as telling as the spoken word, and they both know it. “You read my file.”

Natasha’s smile is sugar sweet. “Of course.”

“You could destroy all of S.H.I.E.L.D in a heartbeat, couldn’t you?” Maria says, knowing Natasha will take it for the twisted compliment it is.

Natasha’s smile widens, and she draws a few bills out of her purse. “I need to get back. This should cover my share.” She stands and buttons her coat, looking for all the world like a corporate businesswoman on a lunch break rather than someone with at least two knives and a gun hidden about their person.

Oh, what the hell. “Natasha,” Maria says quickly, reaching for a business card. “If you ever get bored kicking Barton’s ass, give me a call.”

Natasha doesn’t give an answer, but she does slip the card into her pocket.

One hell of a woman indeed.


End file.
